The Basics
Score: Roanoke 78 | Washington and Lee 68
Records: Maroons 6-1, 5-0 ODAC | Generals 0-1, 0-1 ODAC
Location: Salem, Va.

The Lead: The Roanoke College men's basketball team put their perfect Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) record on the line when they played host to Washington and Lee on Thursday night. The game started with the Generals racing out to a four point lead in the opening two minutes of play. The Maroons would take their first lead less than two minutes later and never trailed on their way to a 10 point win. With the victory, Roanoke ran its ODAC record to 5-0.

How it Happened:

• The Generals would get off to a quick start with a Richie Manigault three-pointer just four seconds into the matchup. Another three-ball and a William Brueggeman jumper, the lead was 8-4.
• Roanoke would rally quickly and when Tripp Greene scored a layup after a Generals timeout, Roanoke was in front for the first time.
• A Greene triple sparked a 7-0 run to push the advantage to eight.
• After a W&L hoop, Efosa Edosomwan made a jump shot and Greene hit another from long range to give RC their first double digit lead of the night.
• The Maroons would push the lead to as many as 14 before Washington and Lee rallied. A 7-0 surge by the visitors would make it a four-point game with 4:42 left in the first half, 37-33.
• However, four points by Kasey Draper and a Justin Kuthan layup would give Roanoke some breathing room and when Brandon Ellington drilled a three-pointer with :58 on the clock, the lead would be back to 10 going into the break, 46-36.
• The first ten minutes of the second stanza would see the Maroons lead by as many as 20 and it appeared that RC was going to cruise to their fifth conference win in as many tries.
• Their long-time rivals from Lexington had other ideas. After the Maroons 13-0 run pushed their advantage to 20, W&L began to mount a comeback.
• Kuthan made a layup with 11:04 to play, but the General defense got stop after stop and after a Curtis Mitchell layup the lead was back into single digits, 69-60.
• Roanoke would not score a field goal the final 11+ minutes of play but the Maroons went 12-14 from the free throw line to hold off any sort of W&L rally and hang on for the 10 point win.
• After matching his career high of 24 points on Tuesday night, Draper paced Roanoke with 31 points, including 12-14 from the stripe. Greene posted a season high 18 to go with a game high five assists while Edosomwan added 10 points and a team high nine boards.
• Mitchell posted a double-double for the Generals with 22 and 10.  

Up next: The Maroons were scheduled to go to Eastern Mennonite on Saturday, but the game was canceled due to CoVid protocols. So instead, Roanoke will have to wait until Tuesday for their first road game of 2021 when they travel to Guildford for a 7:00pm tip.